Hansen and Fiolek Take X Games Gold

By Jean Turner | 8/1/2009 10:33 PM

The Summer X Games 15 Moto X competitions for both the men and women's Super X at Home Depot Center today, and top honors went to Josh Hansen, who rode a Pro Circuit Monster Energy Kawasaki, and Red Bull Honda's Ashley Fiolek.

Hansen became a back-to-back gold medalist, defending his X Games title with a convincing win in the 20 lap main event over KTM's Justin Brayton and GEICO Powersports Honda's Kevin Windham. After getting off to a great start, Windham actually controlled most of the race. The Supercross veteran led the charge while Brayton and Hansen were busy fighting their way through the pack after getting buried off the start.

In the early laps, Honda-mounted Jeremy McGrath was running second, much to the crowd's delight. While he battled with Matt Boni for control of second, Hansen was quickly working his way up. Brayton was off to an even worse start along with Jason Lawrence, and the two of them chased each other through the pack.

Windham got away with a commanding lead by the time Hansen had secured second, but he wasn't in a hurry, knowing that he had the speed and the time to reel Windham in. On lap 12, Hansen secured the lead and from that point, never looked back on his way to claiming his second-consecutive X Games Moto X Gold.

"I was just trying to be consistent," Hansen said, "ride good and make sure I didn't override the track. I'm happy; it felt good!"

Behind him, the battle raged on for second. Brayton had crept up on Windham, and began to consistently pressure him in the same corner of the track. Brayton's moment finally came and he motored around Windham in time to claim the silver medal.

"We were playing cat and mouse," said Brayton. "It was super hard to pass. Once you get off the main line, it was super hard and slick."

Windham held on for bronze while Matt Boni fended off Nick Wey to collect fourth while Wey rounded out the top five.

Monster Energy ampm Troy Racing's Jason Lawrence actually had the hot lap and first qualifying position coming into the night program. After finishing second in his heat race, Lawrence pulled out of the main event for a DNF for the night.

Josh Grant was another rider who seeded well, but suffered misfortune in the Super X event. Grant had some complications in his heat race and crashed hard in a rhythm section. After being down for the rest of the heat race, Grant was carted off on a backboard and taken to a local hospital. Initial reports indicate that Grant suffered injuries to both ankles and possibly a heel, but an official statement has yet to be made by the JGR Yamaha team.

Lawrence's teammate, KTM-mounted Max Anstie, also suffered a bad crash in the LCQ when Blake Wharton landed on him. Anstie doubled out of the rhythm section before the finish line, and Wharton tripled, resulting in the two colliding on the landing. Wharton was able to walk away, only needing stitches to his right wrist, but Anstie remained down and was also carted off on a backboard. The extent of his injuries are not yet known.

The ladies of the WMA got to enjoy the spotlight in the Home Depot Center prior to the men's Super X main event took place. In a single-race format, ten women faced off. There were several battles that took place throughout the pack, but it was hard for anyone to take their eyes off the battle between GEICO Powersports Honda's Jessica Patterson and Red Bull Honda's Ashley Fiolek. The two immediately separated themselves from the pack and proceeded to open up a gap on the field as they chased each other around the Moto X course.

Patterson controlled much of the race, not yielding to the pressures of Fiolek, who stayed on JP's rear wheel. But it was an inside-inside combination, in which Fiolek only doubled onto the finish tabletop while Patterson tripled the whole thing, which let Fiolek finally slip past Patterson. On the last lap, Fiolek took over the lead and made a run for it, taking her first X Games gold.

Patterson held on for second, and behind her, Team Green Kawasaki's Elizabeth Bash stayed steady and consistent to claim a strong third place finish, and her first X Games medal. Cernics Suzuki's Sherri Cruse had worked her way through the pack, notching some impressive lap times in the process, as she worked her way up to Bash, but Cruse ran out of time and the former X Games medalist had to settle for fourth. Honda-mounted Jacqueline Strong rounded out the top five.